Global 5G leader Ericsson plans to leverage its world-leading technology, best practices and use cases to drive Thailand’s 5G leadership and support the country towards realising its Industry 4.0 Vision.
Ericsson, which has deployed 5G in 147 networks across 63 markets and invests 18% of its sales in R&D annually, was recently ranked as the leader in the Frost Radar™ 5G Network Infrastructure Market 2023 report for the third consecutive year, reaffirming the company’s leadership in 5G radio access networks (RAN), transport networks, and core networks.
Igor Maurell, Head of Ericsson Thailand states, “We are leveraging this global expertise and technology leadership for our customers in Thailand to keep them, and the country, at the forefront of 5G.”
Thailand is a frontrunner market in the region when it comes to 5G, and Ericsson forecasts very strong growth in data consumption in Thailand. According to Ericsson estimates, data consumption per subscription in Thailand has grown from 25 GB in 2021 to 32.7 GB/month in 2022. The figure is expected to jump to nearly 80 GB/month in 2025.
Further, Ericsson’s report “5G: The Next Wave” found that nearly 47% of Thai consumers are willing to sign up to a 5G subscription in the coming 12 months, and key factors in their decision making are faster speeds than 4G and coverage.
“To cater to this high demand and capture growth opportunities, Thai Communications Service Providers (CSPs) need networks that are trusted to perform securely, at the highest standard and deliver a superior digital customer experience. As a technology leader in the telecom industry, we can help our customers achieve this,” Igor says. “In fact, by using Ericsson’s latest generation Massive-MIMO, dual and triple band radios, we can boost network performance by nearly 50% for CSPs in Thailand.”
Ericsson also scored No. 1 position in the latest ABI Research report on telco vendor sustainability, topping a list of 80 vendors. “We can modernise legacy 4G sites with 5G achieving 10 times improved capacity and more than 30 percent energy savings,” states Igor. “This results in better efficiency for CSPs whilst they deliver a superior experience to their end users.”
“By preparing the 5G network with our latest technology solutions, activating energy-saving software, building 5G with precision, and operating site infrastructure, we can reduce the climate footprint of the 5G network, which is good for both CSPs and the country overall,” Igor said.
“It’s important to ensure Thailand’s 5G networks are secure, performing well and resilient so that new use cases for 5G can materialise – especially given demand from Thai consumers and enterprises.”
“There were 1.5 times as many 5G subscribers in Thailand in 2022 compared to 2020, and they are typically engaging with more than three enhanced video and Augmented Reality services comparing the same time periods. And as 5G continues to drive usage of enhanced video and AR, the demand for faster uplink throughout will be critical to delivering an overall immersive user experience.”
While the Consumer segment is the largest contributor to CSP revenues today, the enterprise segment is poised to be the main growth driver due to the scale of opportunity in the digital transformation of industries. Ericsson forecasts that the 5G Business-to-Business (B2B) services will drive a 22% increase in total service revenue for Thai CSPs by 2030, equating to an incremental revenue opportunity of over $3bn in that timeframe. Manufacturing, automotive, healthcare, energy and utilities are expected to be the top industries with the highest revenue potential in Thailand.
“5G is a powerful open innovation platform and we want to partner with Thai CSPs to capture growth opportunities in enterprise verticals and achieve Thailand’s Industry 4.0 Vision,” Igor says. “The best way to innovate is to collaborate across the eco-system and Ericsson can draw upon both global and local partnerships for the benefit of Thailand.”
Ericsson has more than 200 enterprise contracts with enterprises across manufacturing, oil and gas, mining, ports, airports, energy plants mining industries worldwide. “We have deployed 5G in leading automotive factories, our own manufacturing units in the USA and China and Nestle’s food processing factory, to name a few. We understand the requirements of the enterprises and have the experience to bring key players of the eco-system together to drive innovation and create value at scale for CSPs,” states Igor.
Ericsson is also working closely with Thai CSPs, Government, industry and academia to develop the 5G eco-system in the country.
“We are accelerating 5G development in Thailand to drive innovation and boost the socio-economic growth of the country,” says Igor.
Ericsson and the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa) recently commenced their collaboration on depa’s Thailand Digital Valley – an ambitious project to develop Thailand’s own version of Silicon Valley in the United States. Ericsson and depa signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate towards driving 5G based digital transformation in Thailand. The collaboration entails sharing best practices and leveraging Ericsson’s state-of-the-art technology.
Ericsson has also announced a collaboration with Intel on the development of 5G use cases that can fast-track the digitalisation of enterprises in Thailand. The two Companies will collaborate on their respective technology expertise to show how CSPs can speed up 5G adoption and expand their B2B engagements based on 5G use-cases. Amongst the areas identified for collaboration is the joint development of enterprise use cases in verticals such as manufacturing, transport, and logistics.
“In addition to working with enterprises on 5G, we are committed to skilling the future workforce of Thailand, so that they can drive the country’s transformation to a digital economy,” Igor says. King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT)’s students have free-of-charge access to ‘Ericsson Educate’, Ericsson’s online education platform, where they can learn about the latest advanced technologies, including 5G, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things.
Ericsson has been present in Thailand for 117 years and has been supporting the country through every generation of mobility, including 5G.
“As a long-term and trusted strategic partner to Thailand, Ericsson will continue to share our global 5G experience with our customers in Thailand, helping ensure successful coverage and capacity deployments with resilient network performance, scalability, simplicity, and security as a primary focus,” Igor says. “We will also draw upon our strong eco-system collaborations and leading solutions to help our customers generate value from their 5G investments in both Consumer and Enterprise segments.”
“We are fully committed to enabling the country’s Industry 4.0 vision, making Thailand competitive on a global stage, by bringing our technologically advanced and competitive solutions, the best competence, services and people to Thailand,” states Igor.
